Pizza: My Skinnier Recipe Options

First of all, we all know by now that I'm on a weight loss journey to become more fit and more healthy. And I'm really loving how hard I've been pushing myself and all that I've accomplished so far. (In case you're new around here, you can read my entire weight loss story up 'til January HERE, and read all my weight loss posts in general HERE.)

But despite all of that, and how healthy I try to eat about 85% of the time, there are most definitely still times where I crave my "fat-girl" food. Things like pasta (duh), bread of any kind, sweets, chocolate and of course pizza. So I've been trying to find ways to satisfy some of these cravings, without loading myself up with tons of carbs, sodium and fat. I definitely can't order a pizza, or buy a frozen one, because those are never healthy. So I need to handle it myself, and I've found two great ways to satisfy my pizza cravings, and still eat healthy-ish! :)

The first option, is a pizza quesadilla! We made these last Friday night for our dinner, and I absolutely looooved it. And so did Jeff. And it was super simple, of course. Because that's really the only way I like to cook...You may or may not remember way back last fall sometime, I shared our special recipe for Popeye's Pizza? Well, I used those same ingredients (minus the mushrooms because Jeff can't eat them), but put it in a quesadilla instead of on a pizza crust. So here's the run down of the ingredients, and the calorie count, based on MyFitnessPal:

And guys, this is soo easy to make. Start by heating a large skillet, and when it's hot, add in about a tablespoon of olive oil to coat the pan. Throw in all the sun dried tomatoes first (we used about half of the bag they come in), let them sit for a minute or so, then add in a handful of spinach. Stir while sauteing, until spinach is completely wilted, then add in another big handful. (This will be enough to fill two large quesadilla's, for two people. That's why the MFP says only 1 cup of spinach per serving.) Once all the spinach is wilted, put aside in a bowl.

Lay out two tortillas, and spread a generous helping of the sauce on each one. (We used about 1/4 cup on each one, since that was the serving size on the jar.) Then divide up your spinach and sun dried tomato mix between the two tortillas, spreading it all out. Lay as many pepperoni's on each one as you would like! (Again we did the serving size.) Then top each one with 1/4 cup of shredded, fat free mozzarella cheese!

Spray your same skillet with some cooking spray, and then very carefully transfer one of the loaded-up tortillas to your skillet, then throw another plain tortilla on top of it to finish it up! Let it hang out in the skillet for about 4-5 minutes, then flip the entire thing. (We found the best method for flipping it was to hold a lid on top of the skillet, flipping the whole thing over so that the pizza is transferred to the lid, then sliding it back down into the skillet on the other side. Thanks to Jeff's mama for that tip!)

Leave it in there for another 3-4 minutes (the second side takes a little less time), then slide the whole thing back onto your plate. Use a pizza cutter to slice it into four triangles, and then gobble it up!

We each had our own quesadilla pizza, and we had actually made a third (with just sauce, cheese and pepperoni), to split in case we were still hungry. But these were super filling. In fact, I probably should have stopped after three pieces of mine and could have been pretty full, but I liked it so much I ate the whole thing. But at just 575 calories for the entire quesadilla, it was a super filling meal, that tasted great! We never ate the extra one, but I'm thinking I should for my lunch today...

With this kind of quesadilla pizza, you can change it up to make it your own, and put whatever you want inside of it. If think you don't like spinach though - I still say you should try it. It doesn't have too much flavor on it's own this way, but it's good for you, so give it a chance. What kind of stuff would you fill your quesadilla pizza with? We definitely want to try out some more options with this, so give me some new ideas!

And then the second pizza option I found, is even easier than the first, and tastes just as yummy. I just use one Arnold Sandwich Thin to make two mini pizzas! Start by putting the bread in the toaster just long enough to get it a little crispy, and turn your oven on broil. Line a small baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil (this just makes for super easy "clean up"), and then place the bread on that. Spread about a tablespoon or so of the sauce on each piece of bread, then lay out the pepperoni's, and top with cheese. Put baking sheet in the oven under the broiler for about 5 minutes, just so everything gets warm and the cheese gets melty!

The MFP screen shot and the pizzas above are with the same sauce we used for the quesadilla pizzas from last week, and it's delicious. But I made these mini pizzas again last night for my dinner, and I used just regular spaghetti/marinara sauce, and that was super yummy too, and a few less calories as well. The pictures above were from my lunch the other day, and with one tiny cutie clementine and a fat free light yogurt, it was a grand total of 415 calories. And I was full for hours. And it tasted delicious!

So these are two options I've come up with so far that satisfy my cravings for the wonderfulness of pizza that is bread, cheese and sauciness. But these options don't overload me with unhealthiness and tons of calories. Definitely glad I figured out these options! :)

What are some of your favorite "skinny" recipes? Either for pizza, or something completely different!? I'm constantly pinning new Healthy Yummies, and of course I've love some more to check out, especially if they have been tested and approved by y'all! I'd love to hear some of your favorites!

And since I got the ideas for these from Pinterest, I'm linking up with Katie and Stephanie for "Saw it. Pinned it. Did it."